McD at the top of his game

[TheRainMaker]

You seem to have conveniently forgotten that you said that McDaniels is lucky to even be in the league. McDaniels took 1 year to get a job back in the league. Vrabel took 1 year to get a job after being fired by the Titans. Is your analysis that Vrabel lucky to be in the league too?

You don’t seem to be aware of what happened in Vegas. Vrabel and McDaniels are not remotely comparable. Vrabel was liked while McDaniels was run out of his locker room twice.

Yes, McDaniels is lucky to be in the league.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Agree. He acted like a freak in LV. Can't imagine anyone would put him at the helm again.

The posters that are giving me resistance are completely oblivious of what happened.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

You don’t seem to be aware of what happened in Vegas. Vrabel and McDaniels are not remotely comparable. Vrabel was liked while McDaniels was run out of his locker room twice.

Yes, McDaniels is lucky to be in the league.

The guys on the Pats seem to like McDaniels.

 

[sieglo]

For many years McDaniels has been consistently outcoached against the better defenses in the league. Athletic defenses that are able to neutralize quick passes to the slot often stump him and you can see the confusion on his face and he doesn't have any creativity for the running game. If Tom wasn't "TOM BRADY" we would have been embarrassed against the Seahawks and Atlanta.

Our offensive line didn't hold up the entire playoffs but I thought with two weeks to plan that McDaniels would have a better showing in the superbowl but he looked completely unprepared. Maye's ability to run didn't even come into play. I put alot of our loss squarely on McDaniels. Ranking him in the top 10 is too high imo.

100% agree.

 

[Zuma]

You don’t seem to be aware of what happened in Vegas.

What happens in Vegas….

 

[Water Boy]

 

[patfanken]

Josh is one of the better OCs in NFL history.

He let Tom be Tom
Matt Cassel had a good year
Jimmy G did well
Mac did well
The Drake had an MVPish year.

Some are way too critical of his body of work.

You guys seem to conveniently forget or not even aware of what happened in Vegas. His reputation was completely tarnished and no team was going to go near him after the incident in the locker room which led to hm being fired mid season (2nd time)….unless he knew someone who would take a chance on him with the Pats. Derek Carr came out saying McDaniels complained of being bullied by Tom Brady. Former Broncos players started talking and weird stories of him came out shortly after. Vrabel absolutely did him a solid because he was never going to be on another NFL sideline ever again.

Not a great HEAD coach for sure, BUT he has clearly excelled as an offensive assistant and OC. It is INDISPUTABLE and you are being an ass for promoting your asinine opinion that he's "lucky" to be on an NFL sideline a season AFTER he was named the assistant coach of the year.

Go home, regroup, and try and do a better job next time. You have offered several good insights and opinions in the past and then you give us crap like this and then multiply the mistake by trying to defend it.

 

[DarrylS]

Find it hard to find fault with Josh, 6 SB wins, memorable comeback in SB LI, this is his 16th season with the Pats.
Of course there are wrinkles, but let's see what happens this year with a true WR1, Fullback and what appears to be a better O line.
But this is Pats Fans.com where there are always problems and something to whine about.

 

[rkarp1]

My recollection is that McD failed in LV because he tried to be Bill's clone.
He communicated like Bill
He brought in "friends" to manage and coach, just like Bill did
He switched the long time semi successful QB with JimmyG
the move back fired, because McD was not Bill, nor did he carry Bill's resume when he came on board

but as an OC? McD has the resume, over decades

 

[PatsFanInVa]

While he is lucky to even be in the league, he's done a good job rehabbing his image. But he's not at the top of his game. McDaniels still has a tendency to turtle when there's an injury or two or when his initial attack gets punched in the mouth. He received a rude awakening in 2020-2021. He resorts to trick plays at the most random times. He telegraphs runs with his tight goal line formations in the middle of the field on short yardage situations making it a constant struggle for the ball carriers. He was dead to rights in the Super Bowl.

Trick plays are more, not less likely to work at "the most random times." Trick plays revolve around unpredictability. The predictability of the "time to use" a trick play militates against its use. That said, yeah, usually you override that with a need argument. ("We need something different here." Well of course you do, and they know that.)

Okay, that observation made... I woke up all jazzed about Kyle Williams, because I am already super-jazzed about what Boutte has been doing in camp to make his case. Then I thought to myself, self, what if Kyle Williams can be more than a 50% completion prospect on those long routes? What if Maye can get past the double-pumps and ball-holding, and yeah I heard it, but I mean, if the shoe fits... What if the upgrades on the O-line are enough? What if my man Will Campbell is better with both legs and a season of extra strength training? I mean, we're still balanced on O -- there's been no Foutsian bargain, if you will -- but a 20-yard-per-reception guy as your fourth or fifth option is not bad. Again, all this is to the benefit of the Legend of Josh McDaniels.

This receiving corps is shaping up to be something special if Maye can take that next step. They're giving him the kind of toolbox you only get building around a young guy while he's still cheap (in NFL QB terms).

So McDaniels might be about to be an effin' genius again, because the stars are aligning for it to happen. I've seen people here curse Josh and praise him, but I think he's one of the best. And oh my GOD, I've seen people shouting about bad playcalling every time we're not racking up yards and points. I don't know what that means, other than "he should have called the play that he didn't which we know because the one he called didn't work."

I think in the end the players play the game. Well-coached players play it better -- to their full potential. A Josh-coached offense is a well-coached offense, if they have the talent. I am feeling good about the talent we've got on-board for 2026-27.*

*and clearly, I mean as an OC, not a HC

 

[TommyD4207]

I get it but I have felt this way about McDaniels for over a decade now. I was hoping the run game would change with the talk of incorporating plays from McVay etc but it was mostly the same. Just not enough growth from McDaniels imo and he doesn't seem to learn. Like remember when we embarrassed the Jets in every single way only for them to shut down everything we did well in the rematch and knocked us out of the playoffs. I don't feel Josh is capable of self reflection and doing anything similar to that and it will all be on Maye to overcome Josh's limitations.

Josh is a classic bully who consistently beats up the weaker teams and that will get to the playoffs but will get outcoached in the post season. I know most will disagree but I honestly think we should be actively searching for someone to replace Josh. We may have the guy in-house already similar to Zak Kuhr.

How many super bowls have McDaniels offenses been to? How many has the great Sean McVay been to?

Josh McDaniels offense took Mac ****ing Jones to the playoffs. Went 11-5 with Matt Cassel. Went 4-0 when Brady was suspended in 2016.

************, some of you people...

 

[StockingAnarchyNumber12]

Andy Reid is dramatically underrated.

This would be like doing the same thing for defensive coaches, and having Belichick anywhere but 1st place. Reid should be #1.

Reid might be top 5 of all time at this point. Even before Mahomes he was a winner. He might not have won the big one and yeah he was prone to some dumb mistakes with the clock, but I think he cemented his legacy.

 

[n1997y]

I mean, we're still balanced on O -- there's been no Foutsian bargain, if you will -- but a 20-yard-per-reception guy as your fourth or fifth option is not bad. Again, all this is to the benefit of the Legend of Josh McDaniels.

Very cute. Dan Fouts is good enough to not seem a Faustian bargain, but he was pretty much one dimensional with Air Coryell. I’m not seeing that as likely here with Hendo and Rham however, and if Larison or Jam start showing in camp I think that depth assures we will continue to see a balanced offense. I just can’t envision Josh making a Faustian, or Foutsian, bargain.

This receiving corps is shaping up to be something special if Maye can take that next step. They're giving him the kind of toolbox you only get building around a young guy while he's still cheap (in NFL QB terms).

Agreed.

So McDaniels might be about to be an effin' genius again, because the stars are aligning for it to happen. I've seen people here curse Josh and praise him, but I think he's one of the best. And oh my GOD, I've seen people shouting about bad playcalling every time we're not racking up yards and points. I don't know what that means, other than "he should have called the play that he didn't which we know because the one he called didn't work."

I think we’ve both seen people shouting about bad play calling even when we are racking up yards and points. Follow a one yard first down line plunge with an eighty yard TD strike and some people on here will still be *****ing about the inside run well after the ensuing KO.

 

[DC Patriots]

Josh has the most Super Bowl appearances and wins of any OC. He got the most out of Mac and Drake took a huge step forward in his first year with Josh. He’s the reigning assistant coach of the year. We are lucky to have him.

The idea that there have been 31 guys better than him at being an OC is the history of the NFL is a reasonable topic to debate. The idea that there are 31 guys out there now who are better than him is nuts.

That said, I just don’t think he’s cut from head coach timber. Maybe he will get another shot down the line and prove me wrong